An Internet protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance, and which, unlike analog closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras, can send and receive data via a computer network and the Internet. Although most cameras that do this are webcams, the term "IP camera" or "netcam" is usually applied only to those used for surveillance.
An IP camera is typically either centralized (requiring a central network video recorder (NVR) to handle the recording, video and alarm management) or decentralized (no NVR needed, as camera can record to any local or remote storage media). The first centralized IP camera was Axis Neteye 200, released in 1996 by Axis Communications.
IP cameras are available at resolutions from 0.3 (VGA resolution) to 29 megapixels. As in the consumer TV business, in the early 21st century, there has been a shift towards high-definition video resolutions, e.g. 720p or 1080i and 16:9 widescreen format.
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History
First IP camera
The first centralized IP camera, the Axis Neteye 200, was released in 1996 by Axis Communications and was developed by the team of Martin Gren and Carl-Axel Alm. The camera was not capable of streaming real-time motion video, instead being limited to showing a snapshot image each time the camera was accessed. At the time of launch, it was considered to be incapable of operating as a motion camera due to what would conceived as "enormous" bandwidth requirements, thus was aimed primarily at the tourism industry. The Axis Neteye 200 was not intended to replace traditional analogue CCTV systems however, given it's capability was limited to just a single frame every 17 seconds, yet was promoted on its ability to be directly accessible from anywhere with a connection to the internet. Axis used a custom proprietary web server named OSYS, yet by the summer of 1998, had started working on a software port towards Linux to operate its cameras. Axis also released documentation for its low-level API called "VAPIX", which builds on the open standards of HTTP and real time streaming protocol (RTSP). This open architecture was intended to encourage third-party software manufacturers to develop compatible management and recording software.
Decentralized cameras
The first decentralized IP camera was released in 1999 by Mobotix. The camera's Linux system contained video, alarm, and recording management functions, thus the camera system did not require licensed video management software to manage the recording event, or video management.
The first IP camera with onboard video content analytics (VCA) was released in 2005 by Intellio. This camera was able to detect a number of different events, such as if an object was stolen, a human crossed a line, a human entered a predefined zone, or if a car moved in the wrong direction.
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Standards
Previous generations of analog CCTV cameras use established broadcast television formats (e.g. Common Intermediate Format (CIF), NTSC, PAL, and SECAM). IP cameras may differ from one another in features and functions, video encoding (compression) schemes, available network protocols, and the API to be used by video management software.
In order to address issues of standardization of IP video surveillance, two industry groups were formed in 2008: the Open Network Video Interface Forum (ONVIF) and the Physical Security Interoperability Alliance (PSIA). While the PSIA was founded by 20 member companies including Honeywell, GE Security and Cisco, and ONVIF was founded by Axis Communications, Bosch and Sony, each group now has numerous members. As of January 2009, each group had released version 1.0 of their specification.
Considerations
Potential benefits
IP cameras differ from previous generation analog cameras which transmitted video signals as a voltage, whereas IP camera images are sent using the transmission and security features of the TCP/IP protocol. Some advantages to this approach include:
- Two-way audio via a single network cable allows users to listen to and speak to the subject of the video (e.g. gas station clerk assisting a customer on how to use the pay pumps)
- The use of a Wi-Fi or wireless network.
- Distributed intelligence such as video analytics can be placed in the camera itself allowing the camera to analyze images.
- Secure data transmission through encryption and authentication methods such as WPA, WPA2, TKIP, AES.
- Remote accessibility allowing live video to be viewed from any device with sufficient access privileges.
- PoE Power over Ethernet to supply power through the ethernet cable and operate without a dedicated power supply.
Potential concerns
- Average higher purchase cost per camera
- Security could be compromised if credentials are insecure, given the camera can be accessed independent of a video recorder
- Public internet connection video can be complicated to set up and may require either a Static IP Address or a Dynamic DNS, although some IP cameras include built-in dynamic DNS.
Hacking
As with a CCTV/DVR system, if the video is transmitted over the public Internet rather than a private network or intranet, the system potentially becomes open to a wider audience including hackers. Criminals can hack into a CCTV system to disable or manipulate them or observe security measures and personnel, thereby facilitating criminal acts and rendering the surveillance counterproductive. This can be counteracted by ensuring the network and device is secured and staying informed on new security methods. In 2012 users of 4chan hacked into thousands of streaming personal IP cameras by exploiting a vulnerability in some models of Trendnet home security cameras. In 2014 it was reported that a site indexed 73,011 locations worldwide with security cameras that were unprotected by using default usernames and passwords.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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